Credit Union Times Magazine February 20, 2013

Featured Story

Acting North Carolina Credit Union Administrator Rose Conner said she agreed to not release any state-issued CAMEL codes under her watch. That was good enough for the NCUA to agree Feb. 8 to end separate exams for North Carolina’s state chartered credit unions.

Featured Story

In order to succeed in the 21st century, credit unions cannot afford to not serve the enormous and growing population of financially underserved consumers in the U.S., according to Greg Rable, CEO of FactorTrust, an aggregator of data on those consumers.

Front Page News

In a move to avoid duplication of services and to establish a more equitable pricing structure, the California Credit Union League and CURoots Cooperative said they are in discussions to transfer the CUSO’s ownership to the California League Services Corp.

The NCUA won’t require credit unions to adopt Basel III capital requirements, said director of Examination and Insurance Larry Fazio. However, as required by statute, he said the federal regulator will have to require credit unions maintain capital that is “comparable” what other regulators enforce.

Ask a staffer at a smaller credit union how costly it is to keep up with collection efforts and the employee, who might be juggling a number of different duties, will likely sigh, overwhelmed at the expenses and time involved.

News

CUNA Mutual Group and the Arizona Department of Insurance announced a deal last week that, should it pass regulatory muster, will both resolve questions about CMG Mortgage Insurance’s financial foundations and lead to the rise of a newer and stronger CMG MI, CMG said.

NCUA Inspector General William DeSarno told House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in a letter that amounts paid to attorneys working under contingency contracts on securities fraud suits are reasonable and are not unnecessarily high.

William Bynum, CEO of the 28,000 member, $161 million Hope Federal Credit Union, believes the Jackson, Miss.-based credit union’s new mobile app is the first step in what he and the credit union foresee as an effort to make widespread banking and financial management solutions available to lower income people...

Editor-in-Chief's Column

At the time I received the job offer from Credit Union Times in 2000 I had also gotten an offer from a credit union in the marketing department. This popped in my head recently for some reason. I’d almost forgotten. I pondered how my life and career might be different...

People Feature

April Clobes, executive vice president/chief operating officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, has never set out to make the seemingly impossible possible. She’s just relentless when it comes to finding solutions.

Opinion

As the latest round of quantitative easing (QE3) commences, this significant government investment will present many lending opportunities for credit unions. QE3 will drive investment in private businesses, boosting corporate profits, which will enable companies to finance expansion projects and invest in value-added business services, like consulting and leasing companies.

I’m a huge fan of “The Walking Dead.” I loved the comic series, and I’m pretty much addicted to the AMC television series it produced. “The Walking Dead” will soon wrap up its third season, and we’ve seen our cast of characters go through quite a lot. At times, they...

Letters to the editor

Over the last few months the Credit Union Times has covered five different credit unions at which CEO embezzlement and fraud occurred. These failures of leadership have left in their wake an abundance of angered and disillusioned members.

Focus Report

Mobile phones are more than just phones. They have become indispensable portable computers, helping manage our personal lives, connecting us at all times to the office and bringing us the information we want, when we want it at the speed of light.

Helping members manage their money with personal financial management tools is a win-win move for credit unions and members. Add a mobile alert feature that keeps members on top of their spending 24/7, and they may be even more likely to improve their habits.

Call it a frighteningly mixed message. In the last week of January, the al-Qassam Cyber Fighters who had been claiming the Distributed Denial of Service takedowns of some of the nation’s largest financial institutions, turned their sights on credit unions.